The Perfect Wife
by turtlepirates
Summary: Dark-ish Modern day AU. Zuko sinks into depression and a rather irrate sibling joins the family drama. AN: Obviosly don't own characters. This is not my view of how marriage should be. SO SORRY for the long wait on chapter six! Even on holidays, I never get a break.
1. Chapter 1

**The Perfect Wife**

She knew he didn't mean to. He never meant to do it. He just got so angry sometimes. And it was her fault. She should know better than to upset him. If she would just try _harder_, be a _better_ wife, he wouldn't have to hurt her. He was only teaching her lessons. She was just too idiotic to understand them. It was all for her benefit. Because he loved her, she just knew it. And she loved him, too.

So she kept their house spotless. She cooked his favorite foods every day, and had his hot meal on the table when he came home from work. She kept Ursa, their baby girl, contented and quiet while he was sleeping. She did everything he wanted, anything to keep him happy. She was the perfect wife.

But perfection is a fleeting illusion. It never lasts very long.

He came home one day to burnt moose-lion steaks.

"Sweetie?" He asked icily calm, "Why is my steak burnt?"

"Zuko, I'm so sorry," she begged, terrified of his uncontrolled anger that always got the better of him. "Ursa was crying and I had to take care of her and thenthe stovewasgoingoffandicouldn'tgettoitintimeto-"

"Because, you know what Katara? I don't like my food burnt."

"Z-zu-zuko, I'm ssso-"

"How stupid are you Katara? How hard is it to make a decent meal?"

"Zuko I-"

"No Kat. You don't." Zuko grabbed her arm. "You don't." His already tight grip constricted. "I come home from working all day to support you- because you are obviously too fucking incompetent to get a job- and all I ask is that the house be in order and a decent meal. And You DON'T DO THAT!" Smack!

"Zuko pl-pl-please-"

"YOU DON'T!" Smack!

"Baby," sniffle, "You're hurting-"

"BECAUSE YOU'RE TOO FUCKING STUPID! YOU CAN'T DO SHIT!" Smack!

"Zuko, I-"

This time he was nice. He only kicked her three times. Usually it was five or six, or when she really messed up, eight to ten.

"Maybe he's forgiven me for my mistake," Katara thought.

"Get out of my sight, whore."

"I'm so sor-"

"I said "GET OUT OF MY SIGHT, WHORE!""

Katara slunk out of the kitchen into Ursa's room. "Hey sweetie," she cooed. "How's Momma's favorite girl?"

"Dada," Ursa said. She still refused to say momma. She was a daddy's girl all the way.

"Not right now, baby. Daddy's not very happy at the moment." Katara said quietly, hoping he wouldn't hear.

"I'm going to the bar," Zuko yelled from by the front door. "We will_ talk _more when I get home, Kat."

After hearing the door slam, Katara walked back into the kitchen, sank to the floor and cried softly, so she wouldn't upset Ursa. When would she ever learn? It was her fault for being so incompetent. If she was a better wife, he wouldn't have to keep teaching her lessons. He only did it so she would get better. Just like her father.

Katara knew she could do better, so she would. Wiping away her tears, she picked herself up off the floor, and started making a schedule so she would stay on track tomorrow. She would be the perfect wife if it killed her.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I changed the rating from "T" to "M" for reasons you'll understand after you read this chapter.**

Zuko came dragging home the next morning, barely able to stay upright and singing an old ballad about two lovers and a tunnel of some sort. Katara met him at the door.

"Hi, Honey," she said sweetly from the porch. She reached out to touch his shoulder as he ascended the stairs, leaning heavily on the rickety railing.

He shrugged her hand away and continued up the creaky porch steps.

"I need you," he pointed in her general direction with a wobbling hand, "to stop yelling at me and go get me," he pointed at his chest in the same manner, "some aspirin. Now."

Katara went back into the house and brought Zuko out two Aleve's and a glass of water, then hurried back inside. Zuko downed it all quickly and followed Katara into their small home, slamming the door behind him forcefully. His noisy entrance woke up Ursa, and she started to cry.

"Why does that stupid little shit think it's okay to make THAT much noise at this hour?!" He yelled, storming angrily toward Ursa's room.

"Zuko, don't! Please! She's your daughter!" Katara cried, chasing after her irate husband.

He ignored her, trudging faster up the carpeted hall.

"Zuko, please! She's only a child!"

"She will learn, just like you. She WILL learn. I will have ORDER in MY HOUSE!" Katara had caught him by the back of his shirt, but being a rather large man, he flung her off and into the papered wall as if she were nothing but a feather.

"Please…" Katara croaked hoarsely before she blacked out, the force of the impact jarring her brain. In the small nursery down the hall, Ursa continued to wail.

"You're just like your little bitch of a mother, always whining on about something or another. I've had it. I've HAD IT! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP, YOU WORTHLESS LITTLE FUCK!" Picking up her tiny pillow, he muffled Ursa's cries, taking immediate relief in the quiet.

"Much better," he thought as he collapsed to the floor and faded from consciousness.

**A/N: I know the chapters are really short, that just seems to be the way the story is flowing. Read and Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I know that some of you were upset with where I ended the last chapter. At that point, I really didn't know which direction I wanted the story to go in. But I'm pretty sure I've found a heading for the rest of the story. Enjoy!**

Katara woke in the hall with a pounding headache.

"What am I- Ursa!" She screamed as she remembered the fight that gave her the headache. Realizing the danger her daughter could be in, she ran down the corridor. When she arrived in the toddler's room, Zuko was sprawled, unconscious, on the floor, and Ursa was in her crib with the small cushion still over her angelic face.

"Ursa!" Katara shrieked, fearing her only child dead. She pulled the pillow off of her daughter and threw it to the floor gracelessly. "Ursa! Ursa, if you can hear mommy, I need you to let me know, okay? Ursa, please!" She bawled and held her baby tightly, until she was shocked from her anguish from a soft cough coming from the small girl in her arms. "Ursa," she cried. "Oh, Ursa."

"Momma?" Ursa asked hesitantly, causing her mother to cry harder with relief and joy.

Picking up her daughter and leaving the nursery, she walked quietly into the kitchen for the thousand dollars Zuko always kept hidden under the lose floor tile next to the fridge for emergencies. After writing a note to her husband, Katara left the house with Ursa, having no intentions of returning.

-/3-

_My Dearest Zuko, _

_I'm so sorry it has come to this. I just can't stay with you any longer. You almost killed your own daughter. I realized today that you weren't trying to help me when you beat me. That you were trying to control me. I'm not a dog and my daughter isn't something you can just decide you don't want anymore. I truly love you, I do, but I am a person and deserve to be treated like one. I can't get that from you. I just won't make excuses anymore. I'm leaving you, Zuko, and taking Ursa with me. Please don't try and find us. I'm going to file for divorce, sole-custody, and a restraining order as soon as I can, even though it pains me to have to admit my marriage was a complete failure._

_I truly wish you a long, happy life, Zuko, but you need help I can't offer._

_ Love always,_

_ Katara_

Zuko awoke as the sun was sinking low on the horizon. Looking at the crib and the pillow, he remembered what he had done. Running to the crib, he discovered Ursa was gone. "Maybe it was all a dream," he thought hopefully as he wandered into the kitchen to feed his growling stomach. Walking past the table, he saw Katara's short note. "Grocery shopping?" he thought as he picked up the short note.

As he read, his face fell and tears formed in his eyes. "What the hell kinda sick joke is this, Katara!" he yelled. Running through the house, he checked every room, not able to believe his wife had taken his daughter and left, but also not able to find a trace of them in their home. It was like they had just disappeared. Realizing Katara and Ursa were gone, that they had left him all alone, he sank to his knees and cried into his hands. He was ashamed of this weakness he allowed himself right then, but was too broken to stop. Too broken to think of getting off the floor. "Fuck You, Katara!" he yelled as he beat on the floor. "I will find you and restore what is mine! I will restore my honor!"

**A/N: Oh, how the plot has thickened…**

**R&R please!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: This is the chapter where everything comes together and becomes clearer. You'll find out how Zuko and Katara met, where Katara goes for help, and what she meant in the first chapter when she made a reference to her father. The parts in italics are all one memory, just spaced out to help the flow of the story. The parts not in italics are all one conversation between Katara and her mom, Kya, about her deceased dad, Hakoda. And remember, this is an AU. It's supposed to be different from the series.**

As Katara drove away from her home for the past seven years, she made her second hardest decision of the day: Where did she go now?

She couldn't go stay at a friend's; Zuko hadn't let her have one of those in three years. "They can't understand the kind of relationship we have, babe," he had said after he'd made her delete all their numbers. "They'd never understand."

She couldn't go to Zuko's family. Not since he'd been disowned. And she didn't have any cousins, aunts, or uncles, either. That only left one person: her own mother, Kya.

The front door opened as she pulled in the familiar drive. Thank La it was her mother standing on the porch. Having not spoken to her since she ran off with Zuko seven years ago, Katara hadn't known for sure that her mom hadn't moved.

"Kat… Katara? Is that you, baby? And with a baby all your own? Come here; let your poor old mother look at you." Kya said as Kat climbed out of the car with Ursa.

"Mom? You're not mad? You're not mad at all?" Katara asked, confused, as she walked up and hugged her mother tightly.

"Baby, one thing you'll learn as this one gets older: you can't stay mad at your children for making choices you drove them to. I was hurt when you left; I cried for days, in fact. But I understood your decision. Let's get into the house. I just made coffee. We'll talk all about it in there. "

"Oh, Mo-," Kat started, but was cut off by her mother.

"Don't you dare stay you were just stopping by. I haven't seen you in years, damn it and we're drinking a pot of coffee, hell, maybe two, before you even _think _leaving again, you understand me?"

"Yes Ma'am," Katara replied, smiling. Her mom was so much more open then she had been. Kat was sorry it had taken her father's death for it to happen- she'd read in the paper four years ago that he'd fallen asleep at the wheel on his way home from a bar and driven off a bridge. He had been killed on impact. Katara had sent flowers but hadn't gone to the funeral or signed the card in the bouquet; she'd ran away from one hell hole into another because of him, and wasn't that upset he was dead. She sure as hell hadn't cried about it- but she was glad her mother was happy, finally.

Following her mother into the house she once called home, she noticed that not much had changed: the same pictures hung on the walls, the same coat rack sat in the corner of the foyer, and the same worn rug covered the hard wood in front of the door. But, for some reason, the whole place felt lighter, like some great oppressive force had been removed.

Moving from the entry way into the kitchen, Katara pulled down two cups and poured coffee for her mother and herself. She sat Ursa in Kya's lap and handed her her coffee.

"And what is this precious baby girls name?" said Kya in a baby voice.

"Her name's Ursa, after Zuko's mother," Katara said with a smile. Her mom looked so happy holding her granddaughter.

"That's a beautiful name. Now, enough chatter. I haven't heard from you in seven years and you just show up? It's not that I'm not happy to see you- I'm ecstatic, actually- but something happened, didn't it?"

This was the part Katara had been dreading. Having to explain to her mother how much she regretted leaving the way she did, how her marriage was a failure, how much it hurt to think about what she had to do, even after everything Zuko had done.

"Can I ask you a question first, Mom?" Katara hesitantly asked.

"Of course, babe."

"Why didn't you ever leave Dad? After everything he did to us?"

"Now, Katara, We're not here to talk about me, we're talking abou-"

She was cut off by her daughter. "Just answer this one question, Mom, and I'll try to explain everything after that."

_Seven years earlier, in the emergency room_

"_What? What do you mean; you don't think she tripped down the steps, again?" Katara's father was yelling at the orderly behind the desk._

"_Sir, all I'm saying is that it's rather odd for a fifteen year old girl to break her arm three times in two years by falling down the stairs," the orderly stammered._

"_Of course it's odd, you dipshit! That's always the excuse he feeds you people!" Katara thought from chair in the crowded waiting room after she got her arm X-rayed and put in a sling._

"_I would like to speak with your supervisor ... Clint," Katara's dad dictated, reading the orderly's name tag._

"_Yes sir, Mr.…?"_

"_Icewing. Hakoda Icewing."_

"_Right this way, Mr. Icewing," Clint said, standing._

"_After you, Clint. Katara, you stay __right here__, got it?" he said icily._

"_Yes, sir," Katara said wearily, watching her father walk off to make someone else's life miserable. Sighing, Katara leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes._

"Katara, it's complicated," Kya implored.

"Mom, I can handle it. I have to know to help me make my decisions," Katara replied.

Kya relented. "I loved him, okay? With all my heart and soul, I loved that man. And when you love someone that deeply, you have a tendency to overlook their faults, no matter how painfully glaring they are."

"_Um… Is this seat taken?"_

_Katara opened her eyes to one of the most handsome young man she'd ever seen. Shaggy raven hair, porcelain skin, amber eyes, chiseled features, broad shoulders, and at at least six' four, he was Katara's dream. Except for the large bandage covering his left eye. "I wonder what happened," she thought._

"_I'll take that as a yes," the gorgeous boy before her stated. _

_Realizing she had been gawking, Katara spoke up, "No, it's not taken."_

"_Okay then…" he said, sitting down in the empty seat next to her. " What are you in for?" he asked jokingly._

"_Apparently, I "fell down the stairs" again," she replied crossly._

"You loved him enough to stay with him, even after he hurt us?" Katara questioned.

"I was weak. I am so sorry, Katara. I should have left him. I know I can't make it up to you, but I am so sorry," Kya said softly as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"It's okay, Mom. He can't hurt us anymore," Katara said, hugging her mother as tears of her own escaped from her eyes.

"_Apparently…?" the stranger wondered, raising an eyebrow, his curiosity peaking._

"_Yes, my father thinks it's fun t- Wait. Why would I tell you? I don't even know your name."_

"_Oh. Well then. My name is Zuko Tatsu, and your father thinks its fun to…?" he queried._

"_I can't tell you that. I shouldn't have said anything. Just forget it," she pleaded, sinking farther down in her chair._

"_Hey …?" _

"_Katara," she filled in for him._

"_Katara. I have to ask you a very serious question. Would you… like to go get some ice cream with me?" Zuko asked, grinning for the first time._

"I can see your bruises, on your face and arms, and I bet you have many more under your clothes. So, tell me this, Katara: Does Zuko beat you?" Kya asked her daughter worriedly.

"Mom, it's more complicated than that. I have to think about Ursa and-"

"Babe, I've been there. I know it's complicated. But I need you to answer the question," Kya begged.

"Mom, I-"

"Yes or no?"

"Mom. He saved me from this hell, right here," Katara said, waving her arms around the room.

Ka_tara mocked having a hard time deciding; "Well… I don't know… Dad said I had to stay right here, so…Hell Yeah! Let's go!" So off the two teens walked, out of the hospital and down the street._

"_Mill's sound good to you?" Zuko questioned as they neared Mill's dairy and drive-thru. _

"_Mill's is my favorite! Come on!" Katara exclaimed, racing down the sidewalk to her favorite eatery. _

_Zuko chuckled at her enthusiasm. Most girls didn't light up over small things like that. But then again, most girls didn't get their arms broken by their abusive fathers. She hadn't told him, but he could tell: the way she avoided questions, was wary of strangers, the way she was so eager to leave- these actions told him what he knew she would never say. He'd been there, and he knew the signs. So he had decided to give her a break from her hell. "And maybe get her number in the process," he thought slyly, smirking._

_Following her into the ice cream parlor, he slid into a red booth seat across from her. "So what'll it be, Kat?"_

"_Kat?" she inquired, jokingly. "Since when do you get to call me "Kat"?"_

"_Since I decided I liked the sound of it."Zuko stated matter-of-factly. "Now, what would you like?"_

_Katara giggled at his straightforwardness. It was kinda cute, in an I-am-the-man kind of way. "I would __love__ a vanilla malt, Zuzu." She said kiddingly._

"_Zuzu?" he mocked. "Since when do you call me "Zuzu"?"_

"_Since I decided it sounded cute. Now…"_

_The rest of their afternoon passed by like this, like they had known each other their whole lives. Until Katara's dad walked in._

"_I thought I told you to stay right there," he seethed, grabbing Katara tightly by the wrist and pulling her towards the parking lot. She didn't struggle. She'd learned long ago that struggling only caused her more pain in the long run. She heard the glass door of Mill's swing open wide._

"_Let her go! Now!" Zuko yelled. _

"_Zuko, please just shut up! You'll only get me in more trouble!" Katara thought, trying (unsuccessfully) to send him the message subliminally._

"_I won't let you hurt her!"_

"_Oh, how sweet," Hakoda said in a disgusted tone, turning his daughter to face him. "How much did he pay __you__, you filthy whore?"_

"_Dad, we didn't do anything! Please, believe me!" Katara begged._

"_You didn't do anything? You didn't do ANYTHING! HOW STUPID DO YOU THINK I AM, KATARA. YOU'RE A FILTHY LITTLE SLUT, YOU KNOW THAT? A . SL-"_

_He didn't get to finish his sentence. Zuko had laid him out on the pavement. "Let's go, before he wakes up," Zuko stated calmly._

"_Let's go? GO WHERE!? YOU KNOCKED OUT MY FATHER! __MY__ ASS IS GRASS, AND YOURS IS, TOO, WHEN HE WAKES UP!"_

_Zuko didn't even bat an eye at her fit. "You can stay at my place. We'll run by your house and get your things tomorrow. But I WILL NOT stand by and watch you walk back into __that__," he said seriously, pointing at her unconscious father. "I can't stand back and know that you got hurt because I talked to you."_

"_Why did you do that? You don't know me. I could deserve it, for all you know," Katara spoke sadly._

"_Don't you ever say that again. I may not have known you very long, but I do know that no one deserves to be abused. No one."_

"That's all very well and good, Katara, but he's brought you into a new one. I know it's hard to believe, but people change because of their experiences, and it's not always for the better."

**Every time you leave a review, a Zutara shipper is born.**

**P.S. **

**Current ages of characters: **

**Katara: 23**

**Zuko: 24**

**Kya: 45**

**Ursa: 1 ½**

**I'm thinking about putting Sokka in this story, but I want your opinion first.**

**And yes, I know this chapter is longer than the other three combined, but there was a lot of information that needed to go in this one.**


	5. Chapter 5

Zuko took the last swig of his bottle of Wild Turkey. "God bless Kentucky!" he slurred. The bartender gave him a funny look. "Another," Zuko demanded. "Don't make faces at me! Get me another fucking bottle! I need my bourbon!" The bartender scampered away.

"You're gonna get kicked out."

Zuko whipped around to see a tall dark skinned young man behind him.

"You really should slow down. You're going to drink yourself to death."

"I'd be so lucky." Zuko rolled his eyes.

"Hey. It can't be that bad. And even if it is, it gets better. Trust me," the man said seriously, sitting down on the bar stool next to Zuko.

He can't be any older than me, Zuko thought. "How did you get to be so wise and all- knowing?" he asked the stranger.

"I ran away from home when I was fifteen after my little sister caught me with a .38 to my temple. Haven't been back since. I don't even know how she turned out. But, anyways, my life is much better now. I have a beautiful daughter and a wife who loves me. There's no where to go but up, my friend," the cheery man answered nonchalantly, like he told that story every day.

"I don't mean to pry farther into your psyche, but why?" Zuko questioned him.

"My dad... He beat my sister and me something awful. Everyday. He broke my sister's arm at least twice, and he broke my leg in three different places with a tire iron the Christmas before I left. I couldn't take it. So I found a way out. And I thank God every day and every night that my sister and I shared a room. Now, why do you have a death wish?"

"I'm not as open as you. I need a name before I spill my inner self hatred to a stranger in a bar." Zuko said pointedly.

The cheery stranger extended his hand. "Sokka Icewing. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr...?"

"Tatsu. Zuko Tatsu. Did you say Icewing?" Zuko asked as he shook Sokka's hand.

"Yes, but I'm nothing like Hakoda, if that's what you're worried about," Sokka assured.

"No. No. My wife was an Icewing before we got married. And she will soon be again," Zuko admitted dejectedly.

"Oh. That explains the death wish. Wait... Wife? Icewing? Is your wife named-"

"Katara," They stated simultaneously.

"You're divorcing my sister?!" Sokka accused.

"Your sister is divorcing _me," _Zuko corrected quietly. Sadly. He hadn't just realized the truth of those words, but it hurt to acknowledge them. If they weren't being spoken, he could pretend this binge was like every other night for the past year. Or was it two? They were all starting to blur together on him.

"Why?" Sokka asked, calming down from his temporary fit.

"I really don't want to talk about my failing marriage with my newly discovered, soon-to-be-ex, brother-in-law in a bar. No offense, but I'm not drunk enough for our relationship to even start to make sense, nor sober enough to really think about it. And in either state, at this point, I probably wouldn't care. It doesn't matter, anyway."

Sokka waved it off. "You and Katara will work it out. She used to over react all the time when we were little."

"She took our baby and left while I was asleep, Sokka. Picked up and left. I found a note on the table that said '_I'm leaving you, Zuko, and taking Ursa with me. Please don't try and find us' _and '_it pains me to have to admit my marriage was a complete failure_'. She's not coming back." The golden-eyed man shock his head sorrowfully.

Sokka tried to console him. "She will. You seem like a pretty nice guy. She's just in a mood."

Zuko held up his hand. "Sokka. Would you ever really want your sister to come back to the man who beats her around like a rag doll?"

**A/N:** Who thinks Zuko's going to get his ass handed to him in chapter six?

Also, I don't own Wild Turkey. I thought it would be Zuko's "I'm too depressed to pour this into a glass" drink. It's some pretty strong stuff.\

"God bless Kentucky", is a reference to where Wild Turkey (and all other bourbon) is made. Just a fun fact for you.

You will find out why Sokka's all happy and open. Just not right now.


	6. Chapter 6

Zuko didn't know why he was admitting all of this to an almost complete stranger. Given they were sort of family, but it still didn't explain his need to utter one of his darker secrets. Especially to someone who was going to kill him for it.

"What?" Sokka asked in an overly calm, terrifying voice.

Zuko didn't reply, just stared down at the carvings on the bar, hoping that Sokka would just kill him. "_I would definitely deserve it," _he thought somberly.

"Answer me, damn you!" Sokka's calm was gone now. In it's place was unadulterated anger at the thought of his sister enduring more pain. "Are you FUCKING DEF?! ANSWER ME!" he screamed as he threw a punch at Zuko's jaw.

Zuko saw the hit coming, but did nothing to deflect it. Or the kick that came after that. Or the several blows Sokka landed to his head and stomach before the bartender got between him and his assailant. He didn't struggle when the bartender hauled him to his feet. He didn't protest when he was thrown out for 'startten trouble'. And he didn't move from where he landed in the back alley of the establishment as the darkness blurred his vision and he slipped into unconsciousness.

-:- -:- -:-

When he awoke, the pain in his head was excruciating. Zuko refused to open his eyes and see what Hell looked like, for he was sure he had died in the night and been sent there.

He heard footsteps approaching and inwardly cringed. _Satan has come to collect his new charge. _Someone prodded his shoulder, and he groaned in pain.

"So you're not dead," said an unfamiliar voice. _Well obviously I am. _Zuko thought. _No one _lives_ in Hell. _

"C'mon," said the strange voice. "You look like hell. Let's get you out of here."

Deciding that maybe this wasn't Hell after all, since he was being offered help, Zuko chanced opening his eyes to look up at the stranger. It was a petite girl with bright green eyes and black hair. "I have learned recently," he croaked, "that one should not talk to strangers."

"Well, that's lovely, Sleeping Ugly, but you have some pretty nasty cuts, and what looks like a third degree burn, and lying in a filthy alley isn't going to help you. I'll fix you up if you get off your lazy ass and come with me before some one sees me."

Zuko slowly sat up and shot the girl a look, ignoring the comment about his eye, deciding not to tell her it was as healed as it would get. Instead, he choose to try and clear some things up. "You, saying things like that, doesn't make me anymore inclined to follow you, Ms..."

"Beifong. But you can call me Toph." she said, then giggled. "Ms? Ha!"

Zuko rolled his eyes at her antics. "Now, why do I need to 'get off my lazy ass and come with you' before you're seen?"

"I have a reputation to uphold. And helping drunks behind a bar isn't part of that," Toph said matter-of-factually, looking around the end of the alleyway with a wary eye. "Look, I have to get back before Haru starts to worry. Are you coming or not?"

Zuko stood, thinking about her offer. Coming to the conclusion that it couldn't be the worst decision he'd made that night, Zuko followed the young woman off down the street into the night without another word.

-:- -:- -:-

After being kicked out of the bar for 'assaltten da binness', Sokka marched purposefully up the street to his apartment he shared with his wife and daughter. Still stewing from what he had learned, he stomped up the step and slammed the red door of flat 3C. Tramping into the master suite, he grabbed a suitcase from the closet and started stuffing his clothes into it.

Hearing all the ruckus, his wife Suki ran from the daughter Morganna's room, thinking that someone had broken in. "Oh God, Sokka, you scared me!" she panted when she found in him in their bedroom.

"Sorry," he huffed, still stuffing garments into the bag.

"Babe, what are you packing for? Are you going on another business trip?" Suki asked.

"No," he replied, not turning from his task. "I just came across some very interesting information that requires my presence elsewhere. I'll be gone for a few days."

"Where are you going? Babe, you're starting to scare me. Turn around and talk to me. Please."

Stopping in his manic rush, Sokka turned to his wife. "I told you about my baby sister, right?" Suki nodded, so he continued. "Well, she's had some... problems lately, and I have to go home and make sure she's okay."

"You haven't talked to her in over seven years, Sokka."

"She's my baby sister. I can't let her go through this alone. I'll only be gone a few days, and-"

"Like those few days that turned into a month and a half last time because you where so stoned you didn't know how long you'd been away? I had to come and find you! And-"

"Suki, you know I don't us-"

"Don't give me that crap, Sokka Icewing!" she ranted. "I found it in the back of the closet! You have a family, now! You can't just go running off to wh-"

"She's my sister. She IS my family."

-:- -:- -:-


End file.
